Critical Examination of the Internal and/or External Environments in Which Management Work Is Being Performed

An organization’s productivity and operational performance are determined by its management. There are conditions that surround management activity that have an impact on its performance, either positively or negatively. These situations can occur in both internal and external contexts. Managers’ effectiveness is determined by how they cope with elements like as authority, management identity, technology, culture, difficulties related to gender traits, and change. This study will critically analyse the factors as mentioned above about the impact they have on managing. This study chose to consider both the internal and external contexts since they both contribute to the performance of the managers. The failure to recognise any of them would have made the study to be lacking significant aspects that determine managerial performance. It is therefore worth noting that the study balanced both the contexts.

The Impact of Power on the Management

Power play a significant role in determining how managers interact with their juniors, the decision-making process is highly dependent on the power that is bestowed on both the management and the employees. The determining factor of how well the management can deliver its duties is on the use of power by employees. Employees can either use positive or negative power to influence each other’s performance, (Tidd & Pavitt 2005, p.35).

Managers can take advantage of positive power through giving employees the power to participate in making most of the decisions. This gives employees a sense of belonging since they feel recognised, hence increasing their motivation. Rewarding good performing employees by allowing them to supervise and guide others is also another way of empowering employees. This makes the non-performing employees envy the supervisory position, therefore adding more efforts. It also improves the confidence of employees, making the supervisors earn more power through communication and respect, instead of using coercive efforts. Giving employees the power to express their concerns and participate in decision-making increases employee retention, (Simpson 1998. p. 99). However, mismanagement of power can lead to poor performance in an organization. Negative power arises when their subordinates do not respect managers. It results from managerial actions which encourage employees to perform better through threats of beings fired or punished. In most cases, such leaders are characterized by favouritism to some employees, rather than recognising the efforts of the whole team. The quality of the output reduces and employee turnover increases as a result of the negative use of power. (Ren, 2017. p.45)

Managers should strive to achieve socialised power instead of personalised power. Socialized power is achieved through initiation, consistency, and persistence which are the results of the legitimate use of power. On the other hand, personalised power is achieved through domination, negative legitimate power and the use of power for personal gain, (Moritsen et al. 2001, p. 66). Employees exhibit high compliance when the managers achieve socialised power.

Impact of Management Identity on Management

Management identity has excellent effects on the productivity of the managers. It refers to the managers’ view of the organisation, that is, what the managers believe to be the primary attributes of the organisation, what makes the organisation unique in the eyes of the managers and what managers find to be continuing in the organisation regardless of changes in the operations and processes. According to Sanchez (2003, p. 85), managers should identify with the core values and attributes of the organisation for them to perform their duties competently. They must be proud of them, and find it more satisfying to work under the influence of those values. This gives the managers a sense of pride that makes them go out of their way to defend what the organization is based on. They, therefore, make decisions based on those values, hence making choices that give the organization the momentum it needs for it to achieve its strategies.

Impact of Change in Organizational Management

Organizations often go through changes as they strive to realise their objectives. Managers are responsible for managing change in the organisation, which entails planning and implementing processes that are supposed to bring about the desired transition. They are therefore charged with the responsibility of managing change to ensure that the transition takes place under minimum costs and resistance from the employees, at the same time leading to effectiveness. With the current globalisation, most organisations change regularly. The rapidly developing technology is also responsible for the multiple changes that most firms enact. It is worth noting that human beings are naturally resistant to change. Employees tend to prefer their comfort zone and have the attitude of “this is how things are done here.” For the managers to plan and implement change, they must prepare employees before the change takes place, which is done through involving them in the decision making process. Communicating the need for change and the advantages that the change will bring about, both to the organisation and the stakeholders, is also a good way of managing change, (Tsoukaz 2005, p.136).

Change is embraced as a solution to particular problems in organizations. In most cases, organizations adopt new methods of operations, hire new employees and adopt modern technology as a way of solving some of the problems which include, low productivity, increased competition, high costs, among others. Managing change entails implementation of the change process in a way that minimises costs. Scholars have confirmed that not all transitions bring about the desired results. This is due to mismanagement of change which in most cases occur as a result of a mismatch between the formulation process and the implementation process. Managers have the responsibility of managing resistance to change. In most cases, employees do not sabotage all the changes, but some few, processes which they feel are antithetical to their interests. Managers can only discover such resistance before it gets to uncontrollable levels if they promote effective vertical communication. By so doing, they can engage employees in discussions which are aimed at realising an agreement between the management and the employees, (Burke 2017.p.90).

Managing change requires the managers to be expectant of potential failure during the implementation phase. This raises the need for preparation of a contingency plan that can be adopted if the previous use plan fails to work. It is worth noting that managerial actions can minimise or increase the potential of the change process to bring about the intended results. Implementing ”managed change” makes the transition to take place as ”natural change.” This is one of how managers can reduce resistance from the stakeholders. Organizations are always in a reasonable inertia state. In addition to this, changes raise anxiety in the stakeholders. If the stakeholders anticipate positive results from the change, then resistance is minimised, and vice versa. This can be achieved through informing the stakeholders on the logic of the change before it is implemented, (Tidd & Pavitt 2005, p.47).

In addition to communication and involvement of employees in designing and implementing the change, managers can overcome resistance through ensuring that the employees have all the resources that they need for them to participate in the implementation process. The inadequacy of the required resources makes employees lose faith in the change process, hence raising anxiety. The managers should also be available to offer explanations and guidance whenever it is necessary during the change process. This boosts the morale of the employees and reduces resistance that may arise due to lack of the required information about the process. Some scholars have consistently confirmed that change can be managed through negotiation and rewards, (Nicolini et al. 2003, p.248). Offering the workers concrete incentives during the transition can help in earning their cooperation. However, this is not the best way of managing change, since it is similar to coercion. In cases where managers offered the leaders of the resistance higher positions in the firm as a way of earning employees’ support most of them eventually fail once the employees discover the coercive nature of the managers. This method is however applicable when speed is of the essence.

Impact of Culture on Organizational Management

Every organisation has culture, whether it is a small business or a large organisation. Business culture can be informally developed or be created by the management using set values and performance standards. Managing culture refers to planning the amount of authority that is bestowed on the manager and also the interactions that are expected to take place between the employees and the management, (Zur 2004, p.83).

Most small business culture requires the manager to act as the disciplinarian, whereby the manager is expected to police the actions of the employees and correct them. The manager is therefore expected to issue either verbal or written warning to the employees who fail to act according to the company’s performance standards. For managers to improve their relationships in such organisational cultures, they should inform the employees of what is expected of them, and conduct regular performance appraisals to determine how well the employees behave according to the set standards. The employees should also be aware of the disciplinary actions that the management can impose on them in case of poor performers, which should be fairly distributed among those who fail to perform well, (Van et al. 2005.p.56).

Organizational cultures expect the managers to set a good example for the employees. They must, therefore, interact well with the employees as a way of encouraging them to also interact well among themselves, hence promoting teamwork. Managers should also be versatile since organisational culture changes over time. They must be able to adapt to changes in the organisation culture and also help their subordinates in the same. The manager has the role to illustrate the right culture to the employees, and the quicker he does that, the quicker the employees adopt it. (Lee and Kramer, 2016, p. 78)

However, it is worth noting that the results that the culture has on the performance of the organisations do not only depend on the managers, but also the employees and other stakeholders such as governments and suppliers. Managers should be capable of bringing along all the stakeholders to play their part in ensuring that the organisation develops a culture that propels it towards the achievement of organizational strategies. (Thomas and Peterson 2017. p.78)

A culture that rewards proper behaviour often motivates employees towards behaving in a way that will attract the rewards. Rewards do not have to be material in nature but can take the form of a simple praise. By so doing, the management encourages the employees to emulate the behaviour, which soon turns out to be part of the culture of the organisation. However, managers must be keen to ensure that the rewarding process is done fairly, recognizing the efforts of all the employees, (George et al. 2002, p. 127).

Impact of Gender on Organizational Management

Studies have confirmed that every person is different, but gender plays a great role in determining how managers perform their roles. Male managers have different traits from female managers. The understanding of the difference in characteristics helps the managers to understand the behaviour of others, especially those from different genders in the handling of managerial duties. This enables the management to work together effectively as well as involve the employees in the collective realisation of organisational goals. The difference in traits should not weaken the management, but the mix should make the management stronger, (Klijn 2005, p.39).

Male managers tend to perform their managerial duties by displaying and gaining information. In most cases, their focus is based on completing the task at hand through gathering the information that is necessary to complete it, unlike female managers who often develop relationships and convey their feelings about the task. The males are therefore likely to make managerial decisions based on procedures and strategies while females are more likely to make managerial decisions based on their intuition. Research has shown that male managers are less likely to act unethically at work than women, due to the differences discussed above. Men are wired to work out solutions based on numbers, (Brewer et al. 2002. p.56).

It is worth noting that the general characteristics that are associated with genders determine the performance of the management. For instance, females have a greater ability to multitask than males. This enables them to handle diverse information and tasks at the same time, hence enabling them to give attention to all the employees in a fair manner. They also tend to be more keen on the emotional expressions of others, making them have an edge during negotiations and in meetings since they can easily read and understand other people’s facial expressions. They prefer discussing a matter before finding a solution, hence being better team workers than men who would prefer fewer discussions, (Dwyer et al. 2003.p.78)

For organisations to have successful management teams, they must combine the traits of males and females for them to strike a balance. In most cases, a man would prefer to make a decision that looks good on paper, but a woman would sense future negative consequences that will arise from the decision. During the problem-solving process, the males’ desire to solve the problem can help women to avoid keeping off track during discussions. A negotiation team that comprises of both males and females is likely to perform well. While males would focus on the logistics of the particular negation, the women would help in maintaining a long-term relationship between the parties. However, combining the male and female traits is not an easy task. There is a need for managers to focus on the other gender’s traits while being aware of their character traits. This promotes understanding between the two genders, fostering good results, (Cline 2000, p.58).

The Impact of Technology on Organizational Management

The current developments in technology require new managerial, social and diplomatic skills and a great need for a decision making process. The adoption of the modern methods of operations that have been brought about by the new technology requires managerial skills that put into consideration the need to employ processes that increase the effective use of technology in organisations. This is a factor that has the potential to increase the productivity of an organisation if well managed, while it can lead to the collapse of an organisation if mismanaged, (Marchington 2005, 130).

Technology affects three significant aspects of organisations: the amount of market competition as well as the rates of uncertainty, the need for more diversified and quality process in the organisations, and the complexity of external policies and legislation, (Argote, and Hora 2017. p.78). Managers must efficiently manage the three aspects of organisations that are mainly affected by technological developments. However, this requires the collective support of the employees, which they can only give if they are well equipped with the right knowledge that is necessary in adopting the changes that are caused by technology,( Melville et al.2004. p. 67).

The essential managerial functions are also affected by technological changes. Managers are mainly responsible for the planning, controlling and coordination of organisational processes, which requires being done differently in this computer era. There is an increased need for the managerial functions to be performed with increased computer-based management science techniques. This produces strain on managers, hence affecting their morale as well as their output. If managers view the technological advancement with a positive attitude and acquire the required management science skills, then they can take advantage of the technological developments, hence increasing their productivity, (Tsoukaz 2005, 140).

In most cases, managers who have embraced the modern technology are faced with increased time for consideration of both the brain and the heart decision making. This makes them often consider their code of ethics, making them more morally sensitive. This is due to the increased need for self-actualization that is brought about by the advancements in technology.

Studies have shown that the net result of technological advancement on organizations management is the increased need for strategic planning. Although planning has been made easier by the new features of technology that allow more accurate forecasting, managerial planning needs to be done in a more strategic manner, (Kim and Lee 2006. p. 66). This is due to the fact that the technology is readily available to all organizations, and the difference in competitive advantage can only be attained in making more strategic plans in the use of the technology, hence making the difference.

Conclusion

Organizational management is highly dependent on its internal, external contexts. Internal factors such as gender traits and power can be easily manipulated by the managers to bring forth the required results. However, most external contexts such as change and technology cannot be controlled by the managers but expect the managers to adjust their managerial skills for them to use them in the favor of the organizations. It is worth noting that managing the internal and external contexts do not in itself lead to improved organizational performance. Managers require the complete cooperation of the employees, which they can achieve through motivating them through constant communication, right reward systems, among others. With the collective support from all the stakeholders combined with the right management of the internal and external contexts, then right managerial skills will translate into improved organizational performance.

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